Editor's Info
The Far East, the Maghreb and Europe meet in one ofthe oldest and most appealing of all instruments, the lute. A p'i-p'a,an 'ud and a Western lute provide Luthomania with the opportunity toblend Chinese, Arabic and European elements into a harmonious mixedmarriage, a musical ménage a trois. Concepts such as pentatonism, modalmonophony and harmony do not drive these three lutenists apart, butinstead bring them together in an effervescent effusion of musicmaking: unity in diversity.
Xia Hua's father taught him to play the p'i-p'a,the chinese lute, while still a boy in Beijing where he later studiedat the Conservatoire of Music and also joined the Pipa ResearchSociety. The reason he came to Belgium was, perhaps surprisingly, tostudy carillon playing at the renowned Jef Denyn Carillon School inMechelen where he graduated in 1995, as did his wife Huang Liling withwhom he also forms a duo playing p'i-p'a, zheng and gu-ch'in.
Abid el Bahri was born in Morocco but moved to Belgium with hisparents. He studied at the Brussels Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts, butas an 'ud player he is self-taught, something which has not refrainedhim from developing a formidable technique and a distinct personalstyle. His first group Ahl-el-Hijra took him to a variety of venues inBelgium, but it is with Weshm that he established his reputation, bothin purely Arabic as in poly-cultural projects.
From the 15th to the 18th century the lute was an extremely importantinstrument, but it gradually grew out of fashion and disappearedaltogether until the second half of the 20th century, thanks to theearly music revival and talented exponents of the art of lute playing.One of them is Belgian lutenist Philippe Malfeytwho, as far as lute playing is concerned, is mainly self-taught. Heperfected his playing in courses with Hopkinson Smith and KonradJunghänel and also obtained a Diploma in Performance at the RoyalCollege of Music in London. He now teaches at the Royal.......
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